Hence why I’ve been so absent. Around here, if you don’t really feel like doing something… well, it will just have to wait! Which is not to say that life has slowed down in the least. The biggest thing that’s happened lately is that my family visited!! Seriously, 10 months without seeing those goons – well it was great! (Totally kidding, I missed them like crazy and was stoked to see those smiling faces!)
Here’s what happened…. I left Moatize and bopped around Moz for a while by myself. A REDES meeting in Chimoio (and a little pre-birthday celebration) = awesome. A 14 hour bus ride without having slept (post pre-birthday celebration) and without an actual seat – just a stool in the aisle = the opposite of awesome. Being reunited with one of my best friends from training who I haven’t seen since I was tossed in the back of a Peace Corps land rover (crying) after swear-in = amazing!!! (not the crying part, that was actually really sad). A forth of July party that included a bon fire, burgers and french fries, and a football = great. Hanging out with Michelle’s awesome students and boyfriend, eating homemade Mozambican food for my birthday and catching up on Glee … well, I have no complaints about that
Then, Michelle and I headed to Maputo to play for a few days – with the help of Mark, Eddie and Ryan (SOOO great to see everyone). And from there I hopped on a plane to South Africa.
I apparently am in my own little heat bubble up here in Tete and therefore had no IDEA that it was actually cold in South Africa. So showing up in the Jo’berg airport with sandals and a light jacket when people had on long coats was embarrassing (not as embarrassing as the fact that I put on socks with my sandals…… it was that cold). Anyways, I hung around a hotel lobby for about 6 hours waiting for my room and I’m pretty sure people thought I was crazy – but I’m accustomed to waiting and I sure as hell wasn’t about to walk outside in the cold again. Then I finally checked in, took and excessively long shower (I mean, I hadn’t showered since March – I deserved it slashhh I needed it) and passed out in an oversized hotel bed. And who should come knocking on my door – BUT MY ENTIRE FAMILY!!!!!!!!!
The next morning we headed to Kruger Park where we had an AMAZING safari. Not only did we stay at this super fancy beautiful “camp” (it was in no way a camp), but we saw all kinds of awesome animals. Elephants, rhinos, hippos, antelope, buffalo, giraffes, hyenas and a whole pride of lions – seriously, so cool! I’ll upload some pictures as soon as I can, because they’re AWESOME!
From Kruger, we went to Maputo (the capital of Mozambica). I took the fam to this awesome fish market (you can buy all kinds of fresh seafood and then they cook it for you there) and the big craft market (which is where all of your Christmas presents are coming from!).
Also, we went to Namaacha for a day to visit Mama Joana! After I drug everyone around the muddy, rainy village, we finally found her at the market where she was selling her big cauldrons. This is the first time I’ve seen her since I moved to Tete, and she was super excited to meet my family. She insisted we come back to her house for some fried eggs, which of course we did. She’s just a warm and strong lady and I’m so glad my family got to meet my Mozambican mom! Plus it was a fun little experience translating back and forth between her and my mom!
Then, after an entire day of sitting in the airport (because LAM is lame) we finally made it to Tete! This day, which happened to be my parents anniversary, was a little touch-and-go for a while…. But nothing a little GingerNut cookies and some Mozambican beer with my mom, dad, and brother couldn’t fix! We rented a car at in Tete – which worked out perfectly. There was no way we were going to use chapas the whole time.
The first real place I took them was my school (of course). Helen had been keeping my kids updated on my travel progress – and seeing as these boys have been looking forward to meeting my family for months now – they were Sooooo excited!! My brother Christian was a huge hit. He walked into a classroom and not only did they all cheer, but they immediately challenged him to an arm wrestling competition. It was pretty cute… and now I’m constantly fielding questions like “Ummm…. Teacher? Can we call Cristiano?” (“you remember that my family only speaks English, right?” “Yes teacher we remember! I will say ‘Good Morning Ms. Charlie, I am student of teacher Carolina’”).
Other highlights included…
- a picnic down by the river with some of my students and the other Tete PCVs
- a basketball game with my welders (they made my dad and my brother play on opposite teams --- they were both a solid foot taller than any Mozambican man around)
- Tours of all the workshops at school - which ended with Char getting some goodies (a new purse from the fashion girls and some candleholders from the welders)
- what Helen and I are calling “char’s extreme home makeover” - a clean house, some new grown-up furniture and a very nicely decorated room
- a suitcase FULL of birthday goodies!! New clothes, some spices, the works
- all kinds of wonderful meals and a sweet non-chapa ride (heyyyy kia rio!)
Lastly, and most importantly, my main highlight was just seeing them!!! I get to talk to them on the phone about once a week – but even an hour a week of explaining my life here doesn’t come close to what it needs. But now, they’ve been here! They’ve seen the way my life is here and the way people in my village live. And that’s so awesome. (It’s a game changer, if you will) I think it’s a comfort for them – they know I’m being looked after. And its certainly a comfort for me – I can talk to them about things here, and they actually know what I’m talking about! Plus, they reminded me of things I initially loved about Mozambique
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